Management
It's time for a Security Clearance Ready Reserve
COMMENTARY | A Clearance Ready Reserve would serve as a strategic hedge against attrition, espionage and workforce volatility.
Transition
Senior Democrat wants to know who in the Trump White House got Top Secret clearance without a complete background check
Trump issued a memo providing temporary security clearances for certain personnel, arguing delays in their vetting were "unacceptable."
Transition
Trump wants a faster security clearance process, too
COMMENTARY | Priorities shift with every election cycle, but one remains constant: the demand for a more efficient government hiring process including security clearance eligibility and vetting.
Defense
20 years of clearance reform: From intelligence reform to Trusted Workforce
COMMENTARY | It’s time to finish what the 2004 Intelligence Reform And Terrorism Prevention Act started, argues one clearance expert.
Management
New bill would require FBI recommendation on security clearances for White House appointees
The Security Clearance Review Act — cosponsored by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., would require the president to provide Congress with written justification for overruling an FBI clearance denial of executive office appointees.
Management
Trusted Workforce 2.0: Moving the chains to phase three in federal vetting reform
COMMENTARY | “It's no longer just about strategy—it's about execution,” writes one expert.
Management
Trusted Workforce is the kind of bipartisan, broad government reform we need
COMMENTARY | Creating better, more agile processes for onboarding federal workers, is an example of the kind of reform that’s difficult, but not impossible when government agencies and the executive and legislative branches work together, writes one observer.
Management
Candidate-centric vetting: A new era of mobility
COMMENTARY | Improved tracking of suitability determinations would lead to true reciprocity and transfer of trust, writes one Trusted Workforce 2.0 expert.
Management
High crimes and mental competency don’t keep presidents from security clearances because, they don’t get them
COMMENTARY | Even more important than the president when it comes to protecting classified information are those national security professionals with the jobs of ensuring it is briefed, stored, and shared properly, writes one security clearance expert.
Workforce
Easing federal marijuana rules: There’s still a long way to go
The Drug Enforcement Administration typically looks at three factors when assessing how strictly to regulate a drug: its medicinal value, potential for abuse relative to other drugs and ability to cause physical addiction.
Oversight
An inspector general warned the Justice Department of gaps in its security clearance appeals process
The department and its component agencies have failed to implement a provision of the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act guaranteeing federal employees of the right to appeal lengthy security clearance suspensions.
Workforce
Honesty is always the best policy, but it isn’t a silver bullet for security clearances
COMMENTARY | Candor isn’t helping the growing number of security clearance holders and applicants with drug use issues.
Workforce
National Security compensation set a record high in 2023
COMMENTARY | The uptick in cleared compensation is good news for the national security workforce and also a good thing for national security.
Pay & Benefits
How diverse candidates can better navigate the security clearance process
COMMENTARY | Simple steps can make the security clearance process less of a barrier to keeping diverse candidates out of government careers.
Workforce
Elon Musk and why you should never compare when it comes to security clearances
COMMENTARY | The government looks holistically at the benefits and risks to national security with each clearance granted.
Oversight
GAO: Agencies need to trust each other’s background check processes
An array of technical and cultural challenges plague the federal government’s ability to OK the transfer of federal employees across agencies, the government watchdog found.
Workforce
Could ketamine use cause problems for your security clearance eligibility?
COMMENTARY | When it comes to drug treatments, there’s one key to staying on the right side of a security clearance adjudication.
Management
Continuous vetting identifies risks earlier, and is getting ready to roll out across government
COMMENTARY | If there is an issue that could be flagged, federal employees should report it now, and get help, an expert says.
Management
OPM announces expansion of ‘continuous vetting’ security clearance process for current feds
After a successful pilot, the federal government’s HR agency and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency set a goal of enrolling all employees in non-sensitive public trust positions in the new process for reviewing existing security clearances by the end of fiscal 2024.
Workforce